Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a writer these
days? Or what it’s like to have a following of people who love what you do? (I
love you guys back so dearly). Well, sit back and relax. Faraway’s got ya
covered. Today, I’m going to tell you a lot about what it’s like to be and have
just that – both the good AND the bad!
October 1st 2017 marks the day that I officially started
calling myself a full-time writer, as it’s the day I released my first book of
poetry, ‘Sad Birds Still Sing’ – which is doing incredibly well thanks to my
fans, by the way. I’ve been writing poetry, songs, and stories for about 4
years, though, so it’s taken me 4 long years to get to where I’ve always wanted
to be. People only see the last 7 months, because that’s when I started
Faraway; though, this story has much deeper roots than that…but I’m going to
spare you the gory details of my origin story and get straight to business.
Having a following is both a blessing and a curse. By the
end of this, you’ll come to see that that it’s more so a blessing, but let’s
kick things off with the bad, since people sure seem to love drama. Haha.
DUDE, how many times are you gon’ ask me for a shoutout? After
hundreds of people asking for one, it’s actually quite annoying at this point.
If I can build a Lego house all on my lonesome, then so can you. I believe in
you, and there’s more than enough room for all of us to succeed, but I never
asked for help. I never begged for anything.
I did Independent research and worked 24 hours a day on
getting to where I wanted to be. I woke up at 5-6am every single day to write
and post my work on Instagram and make my book. I stayed up late into the night
to write, perfect my style, and research important things. I created a second
account to write and post more – to push myself even further.
It became my life.
I taught myself the ins and outs of the self-publishing
world to get my book out there. Heck, I even taught myself Photoshop just to
create my book cover because I had no money to pay anyone. I was dedicated,
consumed, and…um…dead broke. So it was
funny to me when writers were accusing me of buying likes and followers, while
I was driving around with never more than a quarter tank in my gas (thank you
to my mom for giving me 5-10 bucks a week for gas haha). This leads me into my
next topic: jealousy! Woohoo, my favorite sin! Wait, is jealousy a sin? Idk.
Anyways, let’s continue.
One last side note: like I said before, I believe in all of
you, even the writers that flipped on me. If you want something, work your butt
off for it. The world is yours to conquer, my friends. <3
Artists are emotional creatures. Meaning, we’re nuts, bonkers,
off-our-rockers, batsh*t crazy…but that’s what gives the world great art. After
all, you have to be a little different in order to say something different. It
takes a certain kind of person to peer into a soul and have the guts to put it
into art. It’s weird, though; a lot of artists want you to do well , just not
as well as them.
I think it’s because, when people get followings, it gets to
their heads. Me, I’m still that poor, homeless kid I was years ago, just a lot
wiser and more mature. I refuse to let myself change in any negative ways. But,
yeah, it gets to their heads, and an ego starts to develop. I like to think
it’s a slow process, becoming a hyper-sensitive, egocentric, drama queen; with
the more ”clout” you get, the more you become this fiend for attention and
success. Or, perhaps, it’s always there, and getting some level of attention
begins to bring it out. Either way, before I say anything that’s happened, I
still love and mostly respect all of them. I still wish them all well in life
and to be ridiculously successful. I don’t have the space in my heart to hate
or wish harm onto any of them - AT ALL.
Now, I’ve lost count of the well-known, wrier/artist friends
I had that have turned their backs on me. We were great friends, and then, as
soon as I’m doing too well, passing too many of them in followings on social
media, poof, they vanish. In the words of the almighty Drake, “People like you
more when you’re working towards something, not when you have it.”
One by one, they all stopped liking my posts and responding
to my messages, which hurt so much because I truly thought that we were all
friends and in this together. I helped so many of them out with the research I
did, gave them tips and strategies to do better when they asked.
But wait for it, here’s the nail in the coffin, that horrid
“unfollow” we all know all too well. In English, they all unfollowed me eventually.
Haha. Meanies. These are all people I kind of looked up to and respected,
showing me that even people with large followings are just humans with fragile
emotions.
And I got zero peer support for my book launch, even though
I’ve helped so many others out. Okay, there was one that helped, but still,
what the heck Haha. I had to do it all on my own. Some of the few ones I still
occasionally talk to, they told me NOT to release the book on my own, that I
wouldn’t sell any copies, and that I was wasting my time. Thanks for the advice,
but I sold more in 5 weeks than most of them will sell in a year. Unlike them,
THAT’S how loyal and supportive my fans are. THAT’S what being genuine and
compassionate will get you.
Okay, I’m done talking about the bad. I’m not even going to
begin on the things writers were saying behind my back, writer you all most
likely know and like their writing. More of it might come out slowly in future
posts, but it’s putting me into a weird headspace, and I want to have a good
day today. Let’s talk briefly about the good.
Putting genuine pieces of yourself out there leads to such
beautiful things. Love. Compassion. A real connection. Trust. Respect.
Opportunities.
Everything I’ve gotten, I’ve gotten from being real, honest,
supportive, and open. I started Faraway as a way to change who I was, to become
somebody I someday wouldn’t recognize, the best possible version of myself.
Taking people along on this journey with me has been utterly amazing. That bad
stuff, it means very little to me compared to the love I get from fans (like I
said, I so sincerely hope that they all succeed one way or another).
The messages of people telling me their stories, people
telling me about how my writing has affected them and helped them become better
people - changing their outlooks on certain situations in their lives. The way
my book has lifted their souls up. God, nothing compares to that. It’s pure
euphoria. If I could bottle it up and sell it, I’d be the richest person on
Earth.
I want to do this forever. There’s nothing I want more in
life than to affect people positively for as long as I’m breathing, and for
lifetimes after that. And there’s no way in hell that I will ever allow a
negative comment, something someone with a huge following said behind my back,
or anything else, take away that happiness I feel inside of me. This happiness
is mine, and I’m just getting started.
Now, I have seriously run out of time. There is more that I
wanted to add to this post, but I will have to update it later! Sorry for the
sudden ending, but I’ll let my readers know when it is ready. I’ll also let you
all know when future posts are up.
ps you can purchase my first book of poetry, 'Sad Birds Still Sing' right here!
As an indie author with no publisher, dedicating myself fully to writing, I truly appreciate your support.
Love you all,
faraway.
